Epoxidation of Styrene by Fe, Mn, and V Metalloporphyrins Encapsulated Si, Al, Ti And V- Mcm-41

Iron(III), Mn(III) and VO(IV) metalloporphyrin complexes have been encapsulated into ordered hexagonal mesoporous molecular sieves. The encapsulation is effective due to the electrostatic attraction of quaternary ammonium sites present in the porphyrin and the Bronsted/Lewis acid sites present in the mesoporous molecular sieves. These heterogeneous catalysts were catalytically active for the epoxidation of styrene with PhIO exhibiting different selectivity and negligible leaching of active species. The heterogeneous catalysts were reused three times with a slighter decrease in activity but the selectivity patterns were maintained during the recycling experiments.